Tourism Boost for Peak District

"If only the weather was better!"

New figures reveal that tourists spent more than £1.46bn in the county in 2009 - up by around £40m on the previous year. And the total number of tourists visiting the area was up by around one million to more than 36 million, giving a further boost to the encouraging upward trend.


The independent research, carried out on behalf of East Midlands Tourism, also showed that tourism supports more than 25,000 jobs in Derbyshire - a rise of around 900 and almost half of all new tourism jobs generated in the region.


So do these figures underline the Prime Minister's view that tourism will be one of the key drivers to kick-start the UK out of recession.

Derbyshire Tourism Officials Meet

Everyone associated with the tourist industry will be looking forward to tomorrow as it is officially the first day of spring. Whilst the weather is inclement Easter is just around the corner and people will start to think about holidays, weekends away and days out.

So it is reassuring to know that groups and officials have met up across Derbyshire to discuss the coming season.

Dozens of people from tourist attacting organisations around the Ashbourne attended a meeting in the Green Man on Wednesday, arranged by the Ashbourne Partnership.

The meeting aimed to ensure businesses achieve the best out of this season's influx, and to explain how Ashbourne fitted in to the strategy deployed by the Peak District and Derbyshire as a whole.

The event was chaired by Sir Richard FitzHerbert (whenever I hear this chap's name I think of Bridgett Jones' rendition "TitsPervert" unfortunate, I know), and David James and Georgina Heathcote from the Peak District and Derbyshire Tourism Team took guests through presentations to point out the key aims of this year's holiday season.

Let's think what the key aims may be. Get the punters in, show them a good time, take their money and send them home.

Meanwhile, a separate group met in Bakewell last week to discuss trends, themes and strategies this summer.

In the run-up to the new season the RATS group (Regional Attractions in Derbyshire) met for its half-yearly meeting in Rowsley.

The meeting was again chaired by Sir Richard and hosted by East Lodge Hotel and the Peak District & Derbyshire DMP (Destination Management Partnership), who organise and are responsible for delivery of tourism in the county and its environs.

Roll on summer. Mind you if we have global warming it would be warm all year round. Wouldn't that improve the Peak District tourism?

Chris Sabian, Peak District View - 2007-03-20 02:25:53